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Berryfields Estate
The Berryfields Estate is a housing estate bordering Falcon Lodge, Reddicap Heath, Walmley and the Langley Heath area of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. It forms part of the three estates around Reddicap Heath , the others being The Mount and Falcon Lodge. The estate is unusual in that it was constructed in the early 1980s, long after the decline of the social housing boom of the postwar era and at a time when local estates such as Castle Vale and Lyndhurst were getting doses of national attention for all the wrong reasons. The estate mainly consists of lowrise blocks of flats faced completely with red brick, but also includes two tower blocks; Elizabeth Court and Margarets Court. During the 1990s the Berryfields Estate, along with Falcon Lodge, had a high turnover of tenants across north Birmingham from the demolished areas of Pype Hayes, Castle Vale, Fosseway, Bromford Bridge, Rupert Street Estate & Kellet Road Estate in Nechells Green and the Holte & Priory Estate in the Nechells area of Aston. The estate also provided an upgrade to the iminent demolition of 3 nearby tower blocks on Stephen's Road in Falcon Lodge by the end of the 1990s. These included Fairfax Court and Willmott Court , as well as the already flattened Brook House which was pulled down from the centre of Falcon Lodge in 1990. Historically the local area was called Signal Hayes and Langley Heath . The small springs that were present over 20 years ago have been largely developed upon, however the source of the water continues to slowly rise from a large basin of water 10 metres below the surface in the piece of land between Signal Hayes and Thimble End. This flow of water follows the path in between but parallel to Springfield Road and Fox Hollies Road, eventually curving around to meet The Brook in Falcon Lodge which is easily seen with a glimpse across Signal Hayes and Fox Hollies cornfields. This flow of water eventually joins the River Trent before flowing through Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and on into the North Sea. The 'Hayes' part of the name Signal Hayes refers to the haze of mist and fog that rises from the springs in the Winter months, similar to that of Pype Hayes . The 'Signal' part of the name stems from over a hundred years ago, when locals used to light a fire at the top of Signal Hayes Road and Fox Hollies Road, to signal to journeymen and allies far away at the next place of high ground ie. Sutton Park, Barr Beacon, Lyndhurst in Erdington , Castle Bromwich, the Forest of Arden, the long ridgeway stretching from Coventry to Tamworth. The green belt stretch of countryside east of Sutton Coldfield from Minworth all the way up to Mere Green is expected to be developed on in the coming decade as Birmingham City Council needs to find land to build upto 100,000 houses in the West Midlands Metropolis. This area stretching up to the M6 Toll Motorway is very likely to be developed on as the council own the land and are hoping to construct upto 10,000 homes. Category:Sutton Coldfield Category:Housing estates